A Kiss At the End
by vifetoile89
Summary: It's Christmas Eve, and Ariadne is catching up with her cousin Juno - until an unexpected visit from Arthur turns their shopping trip into an impromptu dream heist. Sequel to 'More Precious Than a Pot of Gold.' Features 'Little Miss Sunshine.' Complete.
1. Chapter 1

A Kiss At the End

By Vifetoile

A/N: The reference to Mitch and Mickey is from the film '_A Mighty Wind,' _and the Hoover family from Albequerque, New Mexico, is supposed to be the family from '_Little Miss Sunshine_,' because I can see them all existing in the '_Juno_' universe, and if so, why not a little '_Inception_' as well? But you don't need to know '_Little Miss Sunshine'_ to get this story (that's why I've added a little summary). And I don't own any of these films.

Also, the character of Amy is modeled entirely on Amy Adams. Because she's awesome, too. And the book that Juno refers to (set in Switzerland, post WW2) is Madeleine L'Engle's _And Both Were Young_, which comes highly recommended. As does everything else by Madeleine L'Engle.

This was a lot of fun to write, and I'm glad the previous one was so popular. I really enjoy writing in Juno's voice. That's probably why this story focuses more on Juno than Ariadne. But I hope that you enjoy it nonetheless.

Ariadne thought, Thanksgiving had been fun.

After all, connecting with her cousin Juno after a lifetime of being distant had been worth it, all things considered. It was good to have someone in whom she could confide her double life as a dream interloper, even if she never even talked with Juno on IM. They read and commented on each other's Facebook statuses, and that was it, for now.

But now it was Christmas time. This was the big kahuna. The family reunion to be talked about at the other family reunions of the year.

This meant not just Juno's family, and Ariadne's family, but their cousins from Albuquerque, New Mexico – the _slightly_ dysfunctional Hoover family.

There was one in every extended connection: one family branch that appeared to exist simply to make the rest feel better about themselves.

There was Aunt Sheryl, twice-married, her brother, Frank, who still had his depressed "episodes;" and then her husband, Richard, who never stopped believing that he was at a motivational conference, and the keynote speaker. The children were somewhat more amenable, but since Dwight had dropped his vow of silence, he was still prone to making conversation-stopping remarks.

But then, there was Olive.

Eleven years old now, with long blonde hair and glasses about as big as her face. Everybody loved Olive. She was the most earnest and sweet little girl, who always danced along to even the corniest and cheapest Christmas carols on the radio. Ever since her first Christmas with the extended family, at the age of four months, Ariadne and Juno had adored her, and considered each other rivals for her attention.

But this Christmas would be different. The three girl cousins would have no reason not to get along – there would be snowmen to make, malls to visit, adults to whom to give the slip, maybe even a slumber party. All this Juno told Ariadne through Facebook.

"I can't wait!" Ariadne wrote back, sincerely.

Soon it was the week of Christmas. The Holiday Inn by Juno's house had both Ariadne's family and the Hoovers in it, which made for very interesting breakfasts. The family members said all the things they were supposed to say ("My, you've grown so big, Dwayne! What do you want to study now? Why, I'm doing fine in school, thank you,") and a few things off-of-the-script.

But Ariadne and Juno didn't have their passive-aggressive rivalry of before, so a lot of tension was let off. Each young woman still had her problems – Juno and Paulie Bleeker were, again, on the rocks, and Ariadne was beginning to really worry about her future in dreaming. Even Olive was starting to show the moodiness of a 'tween, and once said, quietly, that she missed her grandfather.

"Just it being Christmas doesn't mean things get solved," Olive pointed out.

Juno and Ariadne agreed. But they still made plans for a day at the mall, just the three of them.

All together, it looked like it would be comfort and joy and ginger cookies all around.

And then things started to actually happen…

Ariadne had a GPS device put into her phone, traceable only to Arthur, Cobb, and the other team members, including her History of Architecture professor, Professor Miles.

So she wasn't exactly surprised that Arthur could find her in the local mall. She was surprised that he _did_, in the middle of her pleasant afternoon window-shopping with Juno and Olive. She saw him from across the food court, and at first thought she'd been mistaken. No way Arthur was here. It was impossible.

But then she saw him again, and it was for certain, he was running towards her. He recognized her, and he waved to her as if to say _We need to talk, now_.

"Hey, can you girls give me a minute?" she said to her cousins. Catching up with Arthur in front of the Mongolian barbeque, she asked, "Hey, what's up? What are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry for interrupting you…"

"Um, yes, and at Christmas! What is up?"

"You know that mark that we've been trying to pin for the last month?"

"Yes?"

"The CEO of …"

"Yes, I know him, what about him?"

"He's here."

"What? In this mall?"

"No, but in Minnesota. In St. Paul. In this town. It's where his brother lives now."

"And you want to heist him here?"

"Yes. Tonight."

"_Tonight?_"

A few feet away, Olive turned to Juno and whispered, "What's supposed to happen tonight?"

"Ssh, it's rude to eavesdrop," Juno chided her. Then they resumed listening.

"Our client really, really wants to have this job done as soon as possible. And the mark is going to be crisscrossing Canada immediately after Christmas. Tonight is our very best night."

"But – I'm here with my cousins. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. We can't just leave them…"

"Make up some excuse."

"What excuse?"

"You just ran into your boyfriend randomly and want to spend quality time with him?"

Ariadne scowled. "That won't fly. I came out here specifically to spend time with them…"

"You have to be able to lie."

"But at _Christmas_ –"

Juno, from a few feet away, interrupted her. "Actually, um, guys?" She tiptoed closer, as if they were already on a secret spy mission. "I think I could help."

"Help?" Arthur overcame his disbelief. "You don't even know what we're doing."

"Actually…"

All eyes turned to Ariadne. She winced. "She does."

They were in the parking lot of the Ritz-Carlton, a half-hour away from the shopping mall, where the Mark was staying with his wife. Juno had driven them there.

Ariadne was rather nervous. She had explained the basics of dream heisting to Olive on the way over, and had sworn both of her cousins to eternal secrecy. But Arthur hadn't said a word the entire way over.

He was, she could tell, very angry.

When they arrived in the parking lot, he said tersely, "I've bought a room here, on our client's money, under the name 'Robin Piechowski.' Juno, why don't you and… um…"

"Olive."

"Olive, yes, go down and check in?"

"Yeah, let's do that." Juno said at once, slipping out of the car. She tossed the keys to Ariadne. "Be sure to lock up."

And Ariadne and Arthur were alone. She began, "Look, I know that you're upset…"

"Yes, I'm upset! What are you thinking, just letting other people in on the job?"

"Look, it wasn't something I told her, she worked it out for herself!"

"And how does she know about dream-entering, exactly? _How_ did she work it out?"

"Don't you ever need someone to confide in?"

"That's what I have _you_ for!"

Ariadne opened her mouth, but couldn't think of anything to say. Ah. That was how badly things were messed up. She tried again. "I didn't mean to upset you. I didn't think you would be so upset. So, you don't confide in anyone who… doesn't do this?"

"I did. My grandfather."

"Oh. Well, there you see…"

"He was in a nursing home. He had dementia. Bad. He would talk constantly to people who weren't there, and recognize me there for – maybe – five seconds. He and I were so close when I was a kid. And so I told him everything. It was almost like having a conversation with him. And if he talked about it to anyone – who would believe him?" Arthur stared out at the parking lot, and gave an angry sigh. "He died last March."

"Oh, Arthur…"

"That's as safe as you can be."

"But…"

"You've risked everything by telling them. I mean, you've told me about Juno, she's your slacker guitar-key cousin. And now an eleven year old?"

"Juno hasn't told anyone yet…"

"How do you know?"

"And Olive can keep a secret!"

"How do you know? Because she's cute? She's not exactly the brightest, I can tell already. If cute was all there was to trust, we'd be…"

"Arthur, _shut up!_"

Arthur stared at her.

Even Ariadne was surprised at herself. She took a deep breath. "Don't insult my family in front of me, okay? And I'm just a bit confused at how trusting in con men like Eames is so easy when it comes to your own subconscious, going straight into dreams with them, but I try to connect with my own cousins – who volunteered of their own free wills – and you act like they've got the plague?"

Arthur scowled. "Training. Being _good_ at the jobs. It's all the difference in the world."

"Okay. We can't fight now about whether I should have told my cousins, because they know. We'll talk about that later."

Arthur nodded. "Okay. Fine. The job."

"Yes, focus on the job. For just one excursion, in one level, I'm sure Juno will be all right. Olive can't enter a dream, we know that." (There was an age limit imposed – too young of a child couldn't control their dreaming mind well enough to attempt extraction.)

"Why even talk about bringing them in?"

"Think about it." Ariadne counted on her fingers. "We'll need at least three people hooked up to the PASIV to stabilize this dream," he started.

"That's easy," Arthur interrupted. "You, me, and the Mark."

"But we need two levels," she explained, eyes wide, "and you need backup, which is me. And what does that mean?"

He sighed. "That means we need one dreamer and engineer on the first level."

"And that means…"

"Look, just show me what buttons to press on the machine, and I'll do it."

Later, in the hotel bar, as they tried to explain this to Juno and Olive.

"But I wanted to press the button!" Olive complained.

Ariadne tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and laughed nervously. "We-ell, it looks like that's going to be your job after all…"

"Sometimes pressing buttons is a complicated business," Juno said to Olive.

"No, no, Juno," Ariadne said, "I mean, it looks like you're going to have to enter the dream… with us."

Juno stared for a minute at the two of them, then said, "_Cool!_"

"Yeah, think about that for a minute." Arthur then took Ariadne aside to ask, "But what about the first level of the dream? That means either she comes down to the lower level, leaving one of us awake to manage the first level, or she has to maintain the first level herself."

"Wait…" she thought. "We talked about this, actually, at Thanksgiving. Let me talk to her."

"Talk to me about what?"

Taking her cousin's arm, Ariadne asked, "Okay, Juno. You said that you had planned out the entire layout of Hogwarts Castle, from _Harry Potter_."

"Yeah? Are we going to use it?" She sounded excited.

Her cousin shook her head. "Not unless we have to. Is there any other place – someplace set in our real, modern world – that you spent a lot of time planning out what it would look like, and can you remember it now?"

Juno thought, and nodded. "Yeah. This book that's set post World War II, but in this boarding school in Switzerland, I planned out the school building and grounds once. Mostly, like, balconies and stuff."

"That'll work. Will it work?" Ariadne asked Arthur.

He nodded. "It should. He went to a private boarding school in Europe – though in France, just as it so happens."

"Well, la-di-da, that's definitely not snobby enough," Juno quipped in a little British accent. Olive giggled. No one else did.

"… just trying to make light of the situation," Juno took a sip of water.

Arthur shook his head. "Okay. Let me explain the gig, and I'm only going to say it once, so listen up. At the moment, our Mark is in the Wi-Fi room of this Ritz-Carlton, connected to his laptop. We will drug his drink and set him to sleep for about forty-five minutes – a very basic nap. That's when we'll hook up the Mark, Ariadne… Juno, and myself. And you, Olive, are going to be in charge of working the PASIV."

"What's that?"

He rolled his eyes. "It's the machine that lets you enter a shared dream."

"Okay."

"Juno, you're going to be the creator of the first dream level."

"Okey-dokey."

"You have to have the world you've created in mind as you fall asleep, so that we show up there. And then, within the dream, Ariadne, the Mark, and I will all fall asleep again –"

"You can fall asleep in a dream?" Olive asked.

"Yes, you can, and Juno will hook us up to the PASIV within the dream, and get the information, and then Juno will wake us up, then Olive will wake us up – we'll give you a timer, Olive – and we'll be on our merry way. In the meantime, we must not draw any attention to ourselves. Any questions?"

Juno and Olive raised their hands. Arthur frowned, but Ariadne said, "I'll answer these, okay?"

The pieces were in place; the Mark was sitting in the Wi-Fi room, and inattentive to the small group of young people on the hotel's computers. He took a drink of his Vermouth – and felt drowsy so quickly he didn't notice the little girl getting up and closing the door.

Ariadne hooked Juno and Arthur into the machine.

"Theoretically – ow – Olive should do that," Arthur said as she punctured his arm.

"Yes, but she's a bit squeamish. Now be good." She kissed him on the forehead.

His expression softened, but only slightly. "Don't think that you're off the hook."

"I know. Now, hold this for me, Olive."

Olive assisted, her eyes wide. She looked around and whispered "This is _so cool_, what you're doing."

Juno grinned at her. "I'll tell you all about it."

"Now," Arthur said, "Everyone drink."

"And press the button," Ariadne said to Olive, "In ten… nine…"

Olive kept count carefully, then pressed the button on the PASIV.

And the four adults in the room were asleep, and dreaming.

Olive nodded – all was as it should be – and took out a book to read.


	2. Chapter 2

Part Two

I've said it before, but it really belongs here: the character of Amy is modeled entirely on Amy Adams.

* * *

Ariadne, Arthur, and Juno were standing before the front door of a large château, somewhat in the Louis XV style, though the architecture students could see the imprecision, where exact replication had been substituted for beauty – and it was beautiful. Curtains waved in the many gabled windows of the blue roof. Light of the sun and shadows of the trees played together. Birds sang. In charming uniforms, girls of all ages and descriptions ran and walked past them and out of sight. A large forest stretched around the horizon, and beyond that, the mountains.

A perfect moment, that never really was.

Ariadne looked around. "Juno," she said, eying the scenery appreciatively, "I have got to say, I am impressed."

"Thanks," Juno shrugged, smiling. "I mean, I did try. It's really amazing to be _in_ it all, though."

"You've got a good eye for detail, especially for a newcomer," Arthur commented.

"That's an oddly specific compliment," Ariadne pointed out.

"Why don't you two look at yourselves?"

The two girls did, and Ariadne gaped.

"_Schoolgirl outfits?"_

"Uniforms!" Juno fairly squeed. "They're in the school colors! Aren't they pretty?"

"We don't want to be schoolgirls!" They were wearing the same uniform: a knee-length, pleated skirt in grey plaid, a white blouse (with appropriate ruffles), a navy blue blazer with a school crest, and small black neckties. Even their shoes (black Mary Janes, white socks) matched.

Arthur looked at the uniform again. "I think, correct me if I'm wrong, that's the Hogwarts crest embroidered on the breast pocket. Let's hope he doesn't notice."

Ariadne glared at Juno. "Great. Now, except for our hair, we really are practically indistinguishable."

"Not really." Juno opened her blazer a bit more and turned to the side: they could all see her protruding stomach.

"What the—"

"I'm pregnant," Juno explained to Arthur. "It happens, sometimes, in dreams. I'm pregnant and showing, too."

"A pregnant schoolgirl, that won't stand out." Ariadne quipped.

"Wait," Arthur said. "It might not be you. It may be his influence, too, a little."

"Whose influence?" Ariadne asked.

"Paulie Bleeker?" Juno asked.

"No – who?"

"The baby daddy."

"Oh. Well, no, not – quite – in this case – it's the Mark's. He and his wife are currently expecting a baby. It was announced just last week. They already were pregnant, a year ago, but she miscarried. That's all I could find out – I wasn't exactly focusing on his wife, obviously…"

"So, because I'm here, I'm becoming a wife surrogate?"

"Looks like it." Ariadne muttered.

"Like that situation you explained to me, in the first job you did."

"Yeah. See, I said there'd be a test on this later," Ariadne said.

"Hey! Look! You're smiling!"

"Girls, we need to be serious. Focus." Arthur looked around. "The Mark is approaching."

"Is he alone?" Juno asked.

"Yes."

The Mark appeared to be looking for someone. "Amy?" he called. "Amy, where are you?"

"I think we should walk away," Ariadne muttered to Juno. But just as they turned…"

"Amy! There you are!"

And Ariadne and Arthur saw, just for a moment, what had changed.

Juno.

They saw Juno as the Mark saw her.

She was taller, with an elegant face and striking blue eyes, and long waves of red hair tumbling down her shoulders. She was dressed in a stylish, comfortable dress that swept the ground – and was visibly pregnant.

"That's you," Arthur hissed to her. "Amy is _you_, Juno."

"Oh!" Juno balked, and now the two professional dreamers (walking swiftly away) saw her as Juno again, a rather scared young college student, playing dress-up, but she swallowed and strode forward. "Honey! It's so nice to see you."

"My Amy," said the Mark gently, and then he caught her in his arms and kissed her. Hard.

'_Are all of Ariadne's assignments this much fun_?' Juno wondered.

Then she stopped wondering, because whether because it was a dream, or because of natural causes, this was a _good_ kiss.

On the staircase leading off of the balcony…

"So you're telling me," Ariadne took a deep breath, "that Eames has to train for weeks and weeks, learn a person's mannerisms completely, get to know the Mark's idea of them intimately, and send himself totally into character if he's to have any hope whatsoever of replicating the person inside of the dream – and Juno can imitate this guy's pregnant wife perfectly just because _she happens to be pregnant in the dream_?"

Arthur shrugged. "Um, yes? The mind is strange."

"You are kidding me. No way it can be this easy. She'll have to mess it up. She's got to. And then where will we be?"

"She seems to be doing fine for now," Arthur said, looking over to check on the lovebirds.

"That's because right now is just playing tonsil—"

"Ssh! They're breaking up."

By the front door, The Mark broke apart from his wife, smiling down into her face. The light was so beautiful, it brought out her wide smile and blue eyes wonderfully. And he touched the roundness of her belly like it was some holy object.

"How are you liking the place, dear?" Juno asked, smiling. She had made it all! And it was amazing!

"It's beautiful," he answered, "But, what are we doing here?"

(From a distance, Ariadne whispered "_oh no she's going to blow it she's going to mess up—")_

"Oh, just planning ahead," Juno replied. "Maybe we'd like to send the baby to school here one day."

"You _are_ planning ahead!" He laughed. "Good to see you thinking that way for a change."

"Of course, darling." She took his arm and began to stroll with him down the balcony. "Besides, this is a nice place. Worth visiting. It's got a wonderful view of the lake."

"Care to go see it?"

"Certainly."

They walked inside the building, and up to the dormitories ("Special guest suites, dear – where we'll stay the night") with Arthur and Ariadne following close behind.

Soon they were leaning on the balcony, suspended in a perfect moment, where the mountains were perfectly reflected in the lake's surface. His hand was on her back, and this was nice, too – in a dream, his hand wasn't damp or clammy or stiff. And she was wearing a pretty dress, after all; he was treating her like the most beautiful woman in the world (which she probably looked like, to him), and it was a perfect moment.

She was almost giddy. Look at me, I'm in a dream! She wanted to dance, but couldn't, and didn't. She would just have to recall it for later.

She sensed that Ariadne and Arthur were nearby. She casually turned her head (she might be looking at a student walking past), and saw them. They were nodding. Nodding to say "_Keep stalling for time_?" or "_Get with the plan_?" or what?

She turned back to look at the lake. "I'm starting to feel a bit tired. Do you want to take a nap?"

The man shrugged, still looking out at the water.

"Okay, then." Juno figured it would be out of character for the wife to rush the man. In any case, this was a dream, so probably a little wish-fulfillment would be better than not. She leaned against him, laying her hand on his shoulder.

He put his hand on top of hers, keeping it there.

Juno found herself thinking, '_So this is how a married man touches the woman he loves. It's so gentle. There's nothing to prove, just that he wants to tell her he loves her_.' She sighed a little.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yes, everything's fine."

"You're not feeling ill? The baby's all right?"

"The baby is _fine_," she smiled. "I've got a strong constitution, remember?"

Too late, and all too quickly, she remembered what Arthur had said: "_his wife was pregnant, but she miscarried_."

The Mark's eyes hardened. "Of course, you've got a strong constitution. Do you think that makes you invulnerable?"

Watching, Arthur commented, "And here's where he starts to show his real, unconscious self."

"No one is invulnerable," Juno replied mildly.

"A lot of people think that they are," he answered, tightening his grip on the balcony railing. "And they make decisions as though they'll never be broken. And things get out of control, and people break. And someone is always left to pick up the pieces."

"Honey, that's what doctors are for," Juno said, laughing – it was the kind of airheaded, I'm-rich-I-don't-need-to-worry-about-consequences statement that the very rich would make. She'd read '_The Great Gatsby_' three times for separate English classes, come on.

But Ariadne, watching, winced, and whispered viciously "How stupid can she be?"

The Mark turned to his wife, his face turning red with anger. "Is that what your answer is? Doctors are for cleaning up messes and spills? With the last baby, you didn't want to go to a doctor the first time we saw that things might be going wrong. You laughed it off. You thought things were going to be okay. And they weren't!"

"How was I supposed to know that things would go wrong?" This was no acting; Juno was growing afraid, and trying to parry his anger.

"You were supposed to be self-sufficient! I married you because you weren't one more person I had to take care of all the time! I could count on you to take care of yourself, and you _couldn't_."

"Everyone makes mistakes, honey."

"But you were so _stupid!_ So casual about it! You didn't even care when you knew you were taking a danger!"

"You think that I didn't care?" Juno stepped back.

"You didn't act like it."

"Maybe that's just my way," she snapped. "Maybe I just don't show it as much as you think that I should. I'm your wife, I'm not an extension of you."

"It was _our child!_ Our child, and you've just completely shut me out! And don't walk away from me, I'm talking to you!"

("No, don't walk away from him," Arthur urged, "You'll get the projections angry at us…")

"What is with you?" Juno turned around and demanded of him. "You say that you wanted me to be self-sufficient, and then you're surprised when I'm keeping my pain away from you. How can you think that you really understand me?"

"You don't tell me what you're going through. And I want to know! I want to help you!"

"Then give me the time alone to deal with this! Don't rush me through it just so that you can pretend that we're over it, because we're not!"

"You're – you acted like there was nothing to _get_ over. Like you were never hurt."

"Of course I was hurt!" Juno felt tears welling up, and tried to fight them. "I was hurt so much, but I told myself I had to deal with it, because the baby's gone, and we can't bring it back. We _can't_." '_Whoa, hold back, Juno – you're not talking to Paulie Bleeker, even if that dork does need to be whacked over the head a few times_.'

But then the Mark was hugging her tightly, kissing her hair, and he was trying to control his own sobs so badly that Juno found herself crying in tandem.

Maybe it was the right thing to say.

She went on, vaguely, "I hurt but I try and hide it, because I don't – I don't want that loss to define the rest of my life forever, not my life with you…"

"Oh, darling, I'm so sorry."

"You'd better be!" She pulled apart to glare him in the face. "How stupid can you be to think I wouldn't have been hurt?"

He answered by kissing her, which was a surprise, but a nice surprise.

"Because I'm a total ass," he replied, when he was done, "And you're right. You're right."

"Of course I am, honey," she hugged him back, giving a shuddering sigh. "We'll be okay. We'll be okay."

("Huh," Arthur said, watching from a safe distance.

("What?" Ariadne asked.

("She's given him closure – catharsis about his wife and their child. Something he really needed. I think this whole thing will go a lot easier, now."

("Really?"

("Yes, really."

("Well, that's great… do you think it's time to…"

("Do you?"

("Give them a minute."

("I agree.")

Juno lightly took the Mark's hand and they looked over the balcony again.

He said, "I'm glad we could talk like this."

"Yeah. Me too." She saw that Juno and Arthur were approaching, now dressed like faculty, or some other professional. "Oh, look," she said, "They must work here." (She praised and gave thanks for her years in Comedy Sportz for developing her skill with improvisation.)

"How are you enjoying your visit?" Ariadne asked, with a bright smile.

"The grounds are lovely," said the Mark.

"Absolutely," Juno nodded in response.

"Actually, Mr. Anderson," said Arthur, "We would like to talk to you about your business. There's a security measure that – may we come in?"

Juno watched, mesmerized, as Arthur told the Mark about dreamscapes, and entering dreams, and the wonders of the new technology, with Ariadne giving backup, providing anecdotes. '_They could sell refrigerators to the Eskimos_,' she thought.

Eventually, Arthur even managed to convince the Mark to take a nap with them so that they could demonstrate the power of dream technology.

Ariadne had coached Juno well, and only needed to give her a few pointers on how to operate the PASIV machine to hook them up. And then they fell asleep in their chairs, leaving Juno alone.

"I really didn't know," she said as she made sure that the Mark's headphones were on securely, "That you could fall asleep in a dream."

She said this to no-one in particular; anyone who would have cared to listen was asleep. Probably in some incredible world dreamed up by Ariadne. Juno would've liked to have seen it.

So she sat for a while, just watching the world she'd built unfold around her. But it was lonely. And it was weird, being pregnant in a dream, and being aware of it. The baby never kicked. And it was very quiet. Her subconscious didn't utilize a lot of ambient noise.

She went onto the balcony, watching the world happen. But it was very strange: familiar, even though she'd never been there before. And she didn't dare bring in something stranger – John Wayne on horseback, for instance. This was her own dream, but it was giving her the willies.

So she waited…

And then she heard the music. It was resonant, full, but distant – an orchestra might have been rehearsing in the next room, but it was also distinctly _alien_ – it didn't belong to the dream. And it was way too slow. Creepy-deepy. So she knew that it would soon be time to wake up the dreamers.

"Sorry," Juno said to Arthur as she jerked the chair out from under him.

"Sorry," she said to the Mark, adding "Dear," as he woke up.

Finally, it was time to wake up Ariadne. "Wakey-wakey, eggs and bakey," she chimed as the chair toppled.

Ariadne woke up with a start, and glared at her cousin. "What happened to _dignity_?"

Which was code for, what happened to staying in character? Juno took the cue, and went to the Mark, laying her hand on his arm. "How are you doing, sweetie?"

He was blinking hard, shaking his head as if he'd had a very odd dream. "I'm fine, dear. Just fine."

And, for the dramatic flair, she leaned in and kissed him, just as the dream ended.

The kick jarred them all awake, except for the Mark, who slept on a little longer.

Ariadne opened her eyes. Olive was standing behind Arthur's chair as he shook himself awake. Olive's eyes were magnified by her glasses as she looked at Ariadne. "Did I do OK?" she asked.

Ariadne smiled. "You did great. Now let's pack up and get out of here."

They left the Mark still asleep, but starting to stir, in the lavish Wi-Fi room. Juno had to give him a backwards glance, she just had to. They left the Ritz-Carlton, and left the snazzy part of town, and drove back into Juno's neighborhood.

"I just want to say, to our tagalongs today, you both did very well. I'm really impressed by what you've done today," Arthur said with sincerity.

"Can we get Mrs. Fields' cookies to celebrate?" Olive suggested.

"That sounds like a great idea," Arthur agreed.

"There's one right off this corner…" Juno turned right, and they approached it. But Olive added, "But I wanted to go into the dream…"

"Well," Ariadne said, "Maybe one day, if it's safe, I'll take you and Juno on a trip – nice and controlled, no strangers or anything. Maybe. How does that sound?"

"That sounds great!"

Later, when they had returned to the parking lot of the shopping mall, Ariadne volunteered to walk with Arthur to his car.

"We did good today," Arthur said. "I'm sorry I underestimated your cousins so much."

"Thank you." Ariadne smiled, clutching him close as they walked in step.

"But seriously, don't try this again."

"I won't. Promise."

"And for the record – "

"Yes?"

"You _are_ way prettier than your cousin."

"Why, that's the sweetest thing you've ever said to me…" she stopped and checked her watch. "It's Christmas."

"Oh? Oh man… I didn't… I was in such a hurry…"

"Yes?"

Suddenly the cool, suave dream heister was gone and replaced by a surprised and shamed boyfriend. "I was so busy these past couple of days… I didn't get you a present."

"Ah." She took his gloveless hands. "Well, I've got something that I think will fit."

And she kissed him, gently, in the falling snow.

"Well, the Holiday Inn. Everybody out!"

Ariadne unbuckled her seatbelt and hugged Juno (rather awkwardly) in the front seat. "Thanks for everything."

"It was fun. No problem. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, cous."

Olive, on her way out, gave both Juno and Ariadne light pecks in the cheek. "Merry Christmas! You're my favorite cousins in the world."

"Right back at you, ya little rock star," Juno replied, beaming.

"Thank you, Olive," Ariadne said, helping the little girl out and giving her a hug. "Merry Christmas."

They walked into the Holiday Inn together, and Juno drove away…

And the Mark, now Mr. Andersen again, went up to his hotel room, where his wife was waiting with a stocking – actually one of his socks – full of little candies.

"I really wanted to give you something for Christmas, but this was all I had on such short notice…" she stammered, holding it out.

He just swept her into his arms, dramatically, and kissed her, whispering, "Amy, my darling!"

And those were all the kisses at the end, except for one, that wasn't quite physical:

Safely ensconced in her room, Juno picked up her hamburger phone and dialed a very familiar number. She held it to her ear, praying "Please let him be awake, please, please…"

After three and a half rings, the answer, "Hello?"

Just like him, to never check Caller ID.

"Paulie Bleeker? It's me, it's Juno. I just wanted to say I'm sorry that we fought. I and I want to say… Merry Christmas."

"Ohmygod, Juno! Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas! And, and don't worry about the fight, it was entirely my fault. Merry Christmas!"

She was smiling so hard it felt like her face might crack open. "And a happy Solstice."

And then in a way, though they were miles apart, Juno and Paulie Bleeker kissed.


End file.
